he "funny" man's first job was serious business. After studying at the London School of Economics, Cyrus Oshidar joined a bank and was responsible for giving out loans to small businesses.
It lasted for a year, mainly because "these remained small, or shut down because of me," he quips. That's when he thought of taking up a career in advertising, an area he had dabbled in as a student. He joined Saatchi & Saatchi as a trainee copywriter in London.
Fifteen years in that "gloomy" country made him want to get out and he went to Singapore, but a failed application for a work permit brought him to Mumbai. The rest, as they say, is history. Oshidar's crazy, side-splitting promos for MTV are part of advertising folklore now.
It was a difficult start. While at Saatchi in London, he worked on brands like Cherry Blossom Shoe Cream. "But every idea of mine was rejected," he smiles, thinking back. "And they wouldn't give me a full-time job. I didn't know what to do!"
Almost on the verge of giving up Oshidar changed his mind after a trip on the London underground. He happened to see some of his work on the subway. It was proof enough that he could do continue.
Wacky is an adjective that fits Oshidar perfectly. Some of the crazier things he has done include "singing Gujarati opera for my ringtone, waxing a girlfriend's underarms, having my dog mated at a tea party and wearing a thong."
In Mumbai, he started off with O&M.; "I worked with Piyush (Pandey). O&M; has changed over, and now has the image of a creative hot shop." After three years, he moved to Ambience Publicis. "I worked there with Elsie (Nanji), for three-and-a-half years. She was great, still is great."
But it was MTV that made the man and vice versa. He loved every bit of the 11 years spent there. "We had so many young people, so much creative energy." And then MTV grew and it wasn't fun any longer.
Work became more process-driven. "I'm very instinctive," he says. Looking back, he had a great time creating all the promos that came out from MTV, including Chaiboy, Liftman, Maalishwala, Sorry for the Interruption, Gaseous clay and One tight slap.
And he loves to personally do all that he can. The liftman promo, for instance, was shot by him in his building, while a colleague held a long stick with a bulb tied at the end.
How would he assess his career? "I've had terrible luck with my bosses. I always fight with them, even the nice ones, and there have been a couple of nice ones," he grins. Alex Kuruvilla is a favourite. "He'd give you a free hand. Sunil Lulla was great too; he knew the name of every peon - he was a fantastic leader." From MTV, Oshidar went to work with the Contests2win group.
Recently, he set up Bawa (Parsis are referred to as Bawas) Broadcasting (BBC for short, quips Cyrus), the company provides multi-platform solutions for brands that want to talk to the youth. Will Bawa Broadcasting become process-driven? "I think I just need help with simple things like mathematics. For one project, I forgot to add service tax. The profit margin was wiped out," he laughs.
Oshidar, now 43, has two "lovely, but noisy" daughters aged 12 and 9, who are "big bullies". He enjoys African music - rhythm and blues. He plans to retire in Goa. "I'll buy a Harley Davidson - if the government reduces the duty - and learn how to ride it," he promises.
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